Games 214 days away,committee HQ yet to get fire clearance

The building was occupied almost eight months ago.

A No Objection Certificate,or clearance certificate,by the Fire department is given to all buildings after construction. The building can get an occupancy certificate — a document obtained from the municipal body — only after it receives the clearance,which the Fire department says the organising committee headquarters is yet to receive.

Chief Fire Officer G C Mishra said the delay in issuing clearance arose since construction work on the outer structure and the interiors were being carried simultaneously. “There was a rush to shift to the new building,so the authorities carried out work on the interiors at the same time,” Mishra said. “Clearance is usually sought soon after the main construction work is over.”

Fire department officials had inspected the building this January and found it “did not meet all requirements”.

“To obtain a clearance,a building must have in place a certain number of exit points,an efficient fire detection system,extinguishers,smoke management system and alarms,among others,” Mishra said.

At the time of the inspection,it was found that a lot of exit points in the building were blocked,and a proper fire detection system was absent,sources said.

“We had made certain observations and communicated them to New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC),” Mishra said. “The civic body had assured us the matter would be looked into.”

According to officials from the Games organising committee and NDMC,the matter has already been “looked into”. Anand Tiwari,NDMC’s Public Relations director,said: “After the Fire department made its observations,we communicated their requirements to the organising committee. We have been informed that all required changes have been made and we will get the clearance after Fire department officials conduct their next inspection.”

Mishra said: “NDMC has informed us all equipment are now in place. We will conduct an inspection and issue a clearance certificate sometime next week.”

The Games took the building on rent in November 2008 and moved into its headquarter on July 13 last year. It occupies nine of the building’s 12 floors. NDMC officials said the building has been leased out to the Games committee till April 2011.